Help!!!!

G

garbageman

Joined
Sep 14, 2015
Messages
5
hi im in the process of making my first knife out of what i believe would be in the 4s since it is magnetic and did have a little but of corrosion on it. ive beveled the edges of the blade and just have to throw it on the drill press to put the holes in it. My problem is i have no idea how to heat treat it. Should i build a crude forge and just heat it up to a certain temperature and drop it in a quenching oil or does it have to be submerged in dry ice or liquid nitrogen. any help would be greatly appreciated. BTW its about a 6-7 inch drop point so its not very thick.
 
Hi,

We have less of an idea then you. Since we have no clue as to what the steel is there is no way to give you reliable information as to how to heat treat it.
 
Stickies are at the top of the main shoptalk page. Read the one that says "all the good info you need to know". Also fill out your information so we know a little about you..location, occupation, age etc. That sticky has a lot of heat treat info in it. Welcome to shoptalk.
 
AVigil said:
Hi,

We have less of an idea then you. Since we have no clue as to what the steel is there is no way to give you reliable information as to how to heat treat it.
Click to expand...

thanks for the response, i figured that would probably be the answer. unfortunately i had a big sheet of stainless and work and figured id try using that for the first time and thought about not knowing what type of stainless it was after i had already cut and shapped it out
 
Long story short, I'd buy a known high carbon steel and try again. That way you can heat treat it at home and know what it is. Your mystery stainless can be anything and stainless is a much different beast than a high carbon. It needs exact super high temps. Plus not knowing what it is, would be quite difficult or nearly impossible even for one of the best to try and heat treat.
 
viral said:
Long story short, I'd buy a known high carbon steel and try again. That way you can heat treat it at home and know what it is. Your mystery stainless can be anything and stainless is a much different beast than a high carbon. It needs exact super high temps. Plus not knowing what it is, would be quite difficult or nearly impossible even for one of the best to try and heat treat.
Click to expand...

thanks for the info ... any recommendation on which steel to get and do you know a reputable site where can i order it from ... im reading my way through all the stickys slowly ... and again thanks for the responses i greatly appreciate it
 
garbageman said:
thanks for the info ... any recommendation on which steel to get and do you know a reputable site where can i order it from ... im reading my way through all the stickys slowly ... and again thanks for the responses i greatly appreciate it
Click to expand...

Now you are on to something.
Google the New Jersey steel baron. Find 1/8 1084 steel and get some of that. 1/8 is a good thickness to start with and use. Don't go too thick, it's unneeded.
The heat treat for that is outlined in the stickies
 
viral said:
Now you are on to something.
Google the New Jersey steel baron. Find 1/8 1084 steel and get some of that. 1/8 is a good thickness to start with and use. Don't go too thick, it's unneeded.
The heat treat for that is outlined in the stickies
Click to expand...

thanks i googled it and i live maybe 20 minutes from there and its only about 10 minutes from my parents house small world ... ill definitely contact them thanks a lot
 
In my experience, if you're using sheet stainless for panels, cabinets, covers, tubing, etc, it would probably be in the 300 series range. Though I've seen a few dive knives made of thicker 300 series stock, mostly, I think because it is very stainless, it doesn't have the carbon content to allow for heat treating to the edge hardness you'd probably want on a land-lubber's knife. A 440C type stainless would work. But as suggested, if you're just starting out, a simple, plain, high carbon steel might be a good starting point.

I'm not a knife maker, so have ordered very little steel, but do a search for "Aldo's" and/or "Steel Barron" here on BladeForums. From what I've seen, he supplies quite a few of the knife makers here. Mike

Oh crap...I just saw the above post. Sorry for the repeat.
 
1. You lucky bastage for living close to excellent knife steel :)
2. I would think that if you had thick enough stock (1/4 or so) you could use it for bolsters or thinner stock for spacers and liners. So you could still score free materials for your knives, just not the blades.
 
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